Kolkata Police Denies 2 TMC Camps Permission For July 21 Rally
A loyal TMC MP, Kalyan Banerjee, however called the order “totally illegal” and said, “We are discussing our plans and looking for a venue before making an announcement.
Kolkata: The two Trinamul Congress factions have faced a major blow as the Kolkata Police denied them permissions to organise their party's annual signature event, Shaheed Dibos rally (Martyr's Day), separately on July 21 at Dharmatala in the heart of city and imposed prohibitory orders banning any meeting in and around the venue for next two months.
Both the TMC camps, which still sounded confident of their events’ schedule while hunting for venues, applied for the permission last week to hold their rallies in front of Victoria House, the CESC head office, to pay tribute to 13 Youth Congress workers killed in police firing during a protest march led by Mamata Banerjee, then in Congress, in the city in 1993.
On June 28, some of Ms Banerjee's loyalists, including MP Dola Sen and MLA Kunal Ghosh, even visited their proposed venue for preparations but got booked in a case by the police for disrupting traffic. On Tuesday Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand issued an order under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita effective from July 2 to August 30.
The order bans “any rallies/meetings/processions/dharnas/ demonstrations” by an “unlawful assembly of 05(five) or more persons” in and around Victoria House “to ensure immediate prevention of breach of peace, disturbances of the public tranquillity.” Asked about the alternative venue for the mega TMC event, Mr Nand later said, “It is their problem. If they approach us for it, a decision will be taken.”
A loyal TMC MP, Kalyan Banerjee, however called the order “totally illegal” and said, “We are discussing our plans and looking for a venue before making an announcement. We are determined to organise the event irrespective of the situation.” A rebel TMC MLA Akhruzzaman also said, “We will plan and decide our event venue in our national working committee meeting soon. We are sure of organising the event.”
The two sides suffered the jolt a day after West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari suggested to them a venue, Brigade Parade Ground, sarcastically wondering if a crowd of “several lakhs” would attend it.